Corinthian Colleges
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Corinthian Colleges was one of the largest for-profit college operators in the United States. Founded in 1995 and based in Santa Ana, California, it operated more than 100 campuses and online programs under the Everest, Heald, and WyoTech brands, enrolling over 80,000 students at its peak with roughly 15,000 employees. Its business model depended on federal student aid, which accounted for the vast majority of its revenue - at its height the company was valued at $3 billion and had raised over $1 billion in funding.
02 / Corinthian Colleges FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Corinthian collapsed under a decade of regulatory action over predatory practices. The U.S. Department of Education found the company had manipulated job-placement statistics for hundreds of programs and threatened $30 million in fines; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued over its private student-loan program, and state attorneys general pursued parallel cases. When federal regulators cut off its access to federal student aid - the source of most of its revenue - the company could no longer operate. In April 2015 Corinthian closed its remaining 28 campuses, and in May 2015 it filed for bankruptcy, one of the largest failures in the history of for-profit higher education.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Corinthian Colleges was founded, growing into one of the largest U.S. for-profit college operators with the Everest, Heald, and WyoTech brands.
- Federal crackdown
The U.S. Department of Education found Corinthian had manipulated job-placement data and threatened $30 million in fines; regulators restricted its access to federal student aid.
- Closure and bankruptcy
In April 2015 Corinthian closed its remaining 28 campuses; in May 2015 it filed for bankruptcy, triggering years of federal student-loan discharge programs for defrauded borrowers.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Raised approximately $1 billion at a $3 billion valuation.
- 02
In April 2015 the company closed its remaining 28 campuses and filed for bankruptcy in May 2015.
- 03
No audited loss figure was publicly disclosed.